Expression and significance of interleukin-4 and interleukin-10 in patients with HBV-related acute-on-chronic liver failure

Objective To investigate the expression and clinical significance of interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 levels in patients with HBV-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF). Methods Total of 33 patients with HBV-ACLF (HBV-ACLF group) and 42 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) (CHB group), who were hospitalized in the Sencond People’s Hospital of Lanzhou from October 2010 to March 2012 were enrolled. While 20 healthy people (HC group) were taken as controls in the study. ELISA was applied to detect the levels of IL-4 and IL-10 in the 3 groups. Meanwhile, clinical parameters were investigated, respectively. Results The levels of IL-4 and IL-10 in HBV-ACLF group were significantly lower than those in CHB group and HC group (P 0.05), and the level of IL-10 in HBV-ACLF group was significantly lower than that in CHB group (P 0.05). In HBV-ACLF group, the levels of IL-4 and IL-10 increased before and after treatment for 4 weeks (P 0.05). The levels of IL-4 and IL-10 in CHB group were significantly lower than those in HC group (P 0.05). There were no significant change of IL-4 and IL-10 levels before and after treatment for 4 weeks in CHB group (P 0.05). Conclusions The serum levels of IL-4 and IL-10 were significantly lower in HBVACLF patients. Monitoring of the dynamic change of IL-4 and IL-10 have a good clinical significance in disease progression and prognosis of HBV-ACLF patients.